Finally Real
by guardianofcolor18
Summary: Yuki Munenori is the princess of the small Village of Gaea. She is expected to inherit her father's throne at age 21, but her illegitimate brother wants the throne for himself. When he tries to kill her to get what he wants, Yuki is forced out of the village to take refuge in the Hidden Leaf Village, where she meets someone who gives her what she always wanted. Can she keep it?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Awkward. Awkward. Very awkward._

That was all the young girl felt as she stood in front of a full-length mirror examining her reflection. Her waist-long golden hair was pinned half way up and topped with a tiara. A sky blue corset-topped ballgown enveloped her body. A layer of lace topped the corset and draped itself over the ball of the gown.

_Awkward. Not like me. What am I doing?_

It was her 18th birthday celebration. She wouldn't turn 18 for another 2 months, but her father said it should be celebrated early in order to prepare the people of the village for the new addition to the monarchy. Nobody else in her family ever had to do this. They were all sworn in on their birthdays on their father's balcony, overlooking the people from the village that gathered underneath. Even her father was sworn in on his birthday by his father. The only reason she had to do this was because the people didn't think she deserved to inherit the monarchy. They thought she wasn't strong enough.

_I don't care. Let them think what they want. I don't want this life. It's so fake and superficial. I just want something real._

Her lady knocked at the door and let herself in. She bowed deeply at the waist and informed the princess that it was time to make her appearance in the foyer. She bowed back, despite her father's insistence that she act superior than the ladies in waiting, and let herself be led to the staircase.

_Smile. Smile. Smile, damn it. Stop scowling._

And then she was at the top of the staircase, looking down at the powerful people from the village that were invited to witness her unique induction ceremony. She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't scowling either. Her face became worried and sickly-looking.

_Too many people. Why is there so many? I'm already a poor enough fighter without all the extra pressure. Where's Hyosuke? That jerk is probably savoring my terror._

The princess began the descent into the foyer, her eyes darting wildly through the crowd. She was searching for Hyosuke, her brother who was born out of wedlock to a harem mistress. For her special induction ceremony, the large foyer would be turned into a battle arena where the princess would fight her brother. Many villagers believed that, although Hyosuke was an illegitimate child, he was more fit for the part of future king than the princess was for the part of future queen. Even the princess's father and Hyosuke believed this. Despite this, her father would not allow it because he was an un-claimable child. So they just had to make the princess _look_ better than her brother. In actuality, all but one villager believed this to be true.

Her eyes stopped scanning the faces and locked onto a pair of warm, grey eyes. Just like hers.

_Takeshi!_

He was her best friend. They were 6 years apart from each other in age, but they had been together since the day of the princess's birth. They were betrothed to each other and scheduled to be married on the princess's birthday.

The princess smiled at him, but he only returned an odd stare.

_What's wrong with him? He almost looks worried. Doesn't he know that Hyosuke is going to let me win?_

Takeshi's eyes darted around nervously and the princess followed his eye's trail. That's when she noticed that the room was full of men in black body suits, black armor vests, and black face masks. The special ops of her village. Even Takeshi was wearing his special ops uniform except for his mask. She gave him one more look. A silent

_What's going on?_

and then, as her foot finally touched the carpet of the foyer, the lights went out.

Immediately, the entire foyer came alive with the high pitched screams of the women in the room and the clash of weapons. The princess took on a defensive pose, but she knew she was at a great disadvantage since the sudden pitch black darkness was difficult for her eyes to adjust to. She wanted to scream. She wanted to panick and cry out for Takeshi so he could take her away to safety, but she didn't know what was going on. She didn't scream for the fear of alerting anyone who might pose a threat to her of her location. Instead, she stumbled forward in the dark, silently, until her hand came into contact with a wall. Her plan: stand with her back against the wall in order to rid herself of one weak spot and facilitate her protection from the front. But right when she was going to turn and press her back against the wall, someone pressed their torso into her back. She almost screamed, but just then a strong arm wrapped around her and pinned her arms to her stomach, and a firm hand clamped itself over her mouth.

_No!No! This is isn't happening! What do I do? Lick? Lick! Lick the hand and when the grip loosens, BITE! _

She let her saliva overflow from her mouth and snuck her tongue out to spread it around the foreign hand. The person holding her shivered, a clear, jerking, shiver that the princess could feel through her clothes.

"Gross, Yukiko!"

_What?_

"I try to save you from being kidnapped and murdered and you slobber all over my hand?"

_Takeshi?_

"I'm going to let go of your mouth now, but don't say a word. I'm going to get you out of here."

She was released and took in a big gulp of air. She hadn't realized that she wasn't breathing when she was being held.

Takeshi took Yukiko into his arms in a bridal-style cradle and started weaving through the crowd, trying to get to the large double doors leading to the castle grounds. When the doors were a mere 15 feet away from them, a large man in a special ops uniform jumped right into their path. A 12 inch blade stood in each fist, pointed menacingly at their faces. He charged without warning and Yukiko fell butt-first onto the ground. Yukiko thought that somehow Takeshi had been defeated and she was now completely vulnerable to attack, but it was the complete contrary. Takeshi ran forward to the special ops ninja with a short dagger in both hands. Right before they made a head-first collision into each other, Takeshi suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind the special nin. The ninja's eyes widened in surprise and an animal-like howl escaped his throat as the end of Takeshi's dagger pushed right through the front of his chest. And before Yukiko could process any of it, she was back in Takeshi's arms flying at an incredible speed past the scenery of the castle grounds.

Yukiko closed her eyes, feeling a head ache pushing at the back of her eyes, and decided to just enjoy the safety of Takeshi's arms until they stopped moving.

Not too long after getting out of the castle Takeshi and Yukiko stood in the frost covered forest at the edge of their village.

"Takeshi, what's going on?" Yukiko asked. "Why did the village ninja..? You killed...? Why is this happening?"

Takeshi took a deep breath and wiped sweat off of his face with the sleeve of his suit. After looking around and deciding that they were safe, he looked back to Yukiko.

"We don't have a lot of time, Yuki-chan. I can't explain everything, but I'll tell you everything you need to know in order to get out of here alive."

Takeshi kneeled on the ground in front of her and removed the pack that was strapped to is back. He opened the zipper and pulled out a smaller, two-shouldered pack.

"What's that?" Yukiko inquired.

"It's for you." he smiled. It was a smile that looked a bit too strained and didn't quite reach his eyes. "I need you to listen now, Yuki-chan, and not ask any questions anymore. Can you do that?"

She smiled.

"Okay. Now, as you know, your brother is in charge of the special ops of this village. He has the undying loyalty of every special nin in the village; even more-so than your father does. And you also know that your brother..." He hesitated, averting his eyes to the pack he was holding in his hands. "Your brother doesn't really care too much for you."

A heavy silence settled onto their shoulders. Takeshi sighed and continued.

"He's pissed. More than usual. He's really upset that your dad hasn't realized that he should be king. He, umm," again, he hesitated. This time his eyes seemed to look at everything but her. Yukiko reached out to grab hold of his sleeve.

"Takeshi."

He looked at her now, the scariest expressions she'd ever seen in him etched onto his face.

_Is that... fear? _

"He doesn't want you to make it to your 21st birthday. He wants you dead so he can claim the throne for himself. And he's using his power amongst the ninja of the village to get it done. He never planned to fight you and let you win so you could gain the favor of the villagers. He's been planning to use this night to kill you for weeks now."

The shocking secret settled into the still of Yukiko's mind, sending everything into turmoil. Her hand slipped off of Takeshi's sleeve and rose to her face, but not in time to catch the tear that fell from her cheek.

"Yukiko, please. Don't cry. Not now. You need to get somewhere safe."

"Takeshi! I don't want this! I've never wanted this! I just want to be a normal person and make my own decisions. I don't want to be queen! He can have the stupid title! I just.." She stepped forward and clutched the fabric of Takeshi's shirt in her fists, looking up at him with desperate eyes. "I just want to be happy!"

And then he couldn't take it anymore. His heart broke. He knew it was his fault that she had to go through this. He wasn't strong enough to fight her brother for her life. He wasn't strong enough to protect her. So he cried. He cried as he grabbed hold of her and clutched her to his heart for what might've been the last time. Time stilled for Takeshi as they stood there in each other's arms and he just wanted to stay there forever, but then he heard the tracking dogs' barks.

"Yukiko you need to go."

He forced the pack into her arms.

"Takeshi, wait! I don't-"

"You have to go now!"

The princess flinched and listened quietly and intently to Takeshi's instructions.

"In the pack you'll find enough food and water for a week of travel. You'll find weapons and tools for hunting and picking. There's also a map with a pre-set route and destination and a letter with instructions on what to do once you get there. Ration the supplies in your pack so that they last you until you get to your destination. You're going to seek refuge there. It's a very friendly place, and I'm sure once you speak to the head of the village and inform him of your situation, you won't be rejected. You'll live there for a long time, Yukiko."

Takeshi stepped towards her and held her face in his hands,

"I won't see your face again for such a long time."

Again, that fearful look was sitting in his eyes, but this time it was mixed with mourning.

"But once it's safe for you to come back, I'll look for you. I'll find you and I'll bring you home. And you can be happy."

He smiled at the princess and pressed his forehead to hers. Suddenly, the snow in the dead forest disappeared, and all either of them could feel was a live warmth.

"Until then, Yukiko, you have to promise to stay alive, safe, and wait for me."

She smiled too and nodded.

The sound of barking was a lot closer now. Takeshi's quick calculations predicted that the dogs would be on them in less than 10 minutes.

"Promise, Yuki-chan?"

"I promise, Takeshi."

Takeshi pushed his face even closer to hers until their lips met, filling in the gap of coldness separating them. And as fast as the moment came, it went. Takeshi pulled away first and looked hard into Yukiko's eyes.

"Now go. Go as fast as you can until you get out of the snow and find a river. Jump in the river and travel for about an hour in the river. By then, your trail will be untraceable and you should be safe to follow you map. And whatever you do, don't look back at me when you're leaving."

The princess nodded furiously, with an intense fire burning in her eyes.

"But at least tell me where I'm going."

"The Hidden Leaf Village." Takeshi said.

And then the princess fled.

Well, this is just an introductory chapter. I promise it will get better. It's my first fan-fic EVER! So any review is greatly appreciated, especially if you want to encourage me to keep writing. Thank you so much for reading, and please review! I really want to know if people want me to continue. :)

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*Disclaimer*

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters or plot. The characters and plot of Naruto belong solely to Masashi Kishimoto. I do not take any credit. This was written just for fun and not for profit. The only characters I claim ownership of are Yukiko Munenori, Hyosuke Munenori, Izumi Munenori, Katsuro Munenori, and Takeshi Yukimura.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey, readers! First off, I want to say that I am extremely happy that you guys are reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it and hope I can get even more reviews to make this better. Second, I'm very sorry for not updating in forever! I had originally planned to update weekly, or maybe even bi-weekly, but my wifi router broke and the company didn't send us a new one for such a long time! But anyways, everything is working fine now, so I can continue to write and update regularly :) I really hope you enjoy this chapter and continue to keep up with this fic!_

**Chapter 2**

_One week later._

Yukiko walked through the dense forest with her head hung low, eyes drooped, and stomach growling like something out of a horror movie. Approximately on the third day of her tedious treck to the Hidden Leaf Village she had been chased by wild wolves and eventually had to abandon her pack, along with her food and water, in order to save herself. Luckily, she had stashed the map and letter in her pockets on the first day of travel out of fear of misplacing the pack along the way.

She had long ago abandoned her ballgown and was now dressed in her training clothes, which she had been wearing underneath the whole time. It was originally intended for her to wear those clothes when she fought her brother, but now they were serving a more important purpose. Since getting rid of her gown, she had traveled faster and could overcome natural obstacles with more ease. Plus, she didn't sweat as much anymore.

Her hair was now in a loose side-pony tail at the nape of her neck and her tiara was gone. She wore a plain-black, tanktop and loose black pants. Her shoes reached up to just below her knee and were also plain black. The only color she was wearing was located around her hips where she wore a grey sash with the crest of her village.

_I can't take this. I'm so hungry. I'm too tired to keep walking._

Yukiko stopped walking and tossed her head back. With her eyes closed she inhaled deeply through her nose, letting it out slowly through her mouth trying to get rid of her nausea. As she brought her head back down to look straight ahead, everything around her swayed side to side. Only, it wasn't really the scenery that was swaying. Before she could process what was happening, her shoulder hit hard against the trunk of a tree and she rebounded, landing in a fetal position at the base of the tree.

_What happened? Did I fall? I'm tired. And comfortable down here. Maybe I should just stay here and rest for a while._

She let her eyes flutter for a her fluttering eyelids she caught a glimpse of a man walking towards her. Every part of her brain was screaming to get up and defend herself, but her body wouldn't cooperate.

The man pushed her bangs out of her eyes and pressed his hand against her forehead.

Yukiko's eyes closed and she plummeted into a deep comfortable darkness.

"Where did you say you found her?"

_A man. He sounds old. Who is he?_

"She was stumbling through the forest going towards our village. I followed her until she ended up falling over."

_Another man. This one sounds younger. Who is he?_

"I felt it would be best to bring her here to make sure she was alright before assuming the worst of her."

_Are they talking about me? Where am I?_

Yukiko slowly opened her eyes. The bright lighting in the room hurt her eyes, causing her to groan and squint her eyes.

"She's awake." The old man.

Yukiko blinked a couple of times until her eyes adjusted to the light. She looked up at a plain white ceiling with a slow-moving ceiling fan. Turning to her right she saw a large window looking out onto a big village. She could see people moving around through the streets, in and out of shops and houses. In the distance there was a large mountain with 4 faces carved into its side.

"How are you feeling?"

The voice of what sounded like an old man came from the foot of her bed so she tried to sit up to look at the stranger's struggled, her arms shaking and her teeth clenching, until there was suddenly a strong pair of arms helping her sit up. She flinched at first, and turned sharply to the left of her bed to look at this stranger who had one hand on her waist and the other under her arm. Her eyes met with a silver haired, grey eyed man who only had 1/4 of his face face was extremely close to hers and she could feel her cheeks growing hot.

"She's red again. Didn't the nurse say her fever should be gone for good now?"The silver-haired man set Yukiko upright against a pillow and put the back of his fingers against her cheek. His cool skin sent a shiver down her body. Unconsciously, Yukiko raised her hand and slapped his off of her cheek, turning her face away from him. She finally looked at the old man at the foot of her bed. He wore a long white robe with red accents, a red and white hat, and a surprised expression on his face.

"Ouch." said the silver-haired man. "There was no need for that, you know."

"Where am I?" Yukiko asked, ignoring the man's statement.

"Relax, young girl." said the old man in a comforting tone. Yukiko's eyes narrowed suspiciously. She couldn't relax after suddenly waking up in the presence of two strange men in a foreign room. The man saw her expression but only returned a warm, fatherly smile.

"Relax! Really, now. We mean you no harm whatsoever. In fact, we should be suspicious of you! You were lurking around the outskirts of our village and you have no passport."

Yukiko's eyes widened at the man's suspicions. She couldn't believe they thought she could be a threat. "Wait a second!" she started, lifting her hands up in front of her chest defensively. "I'm just a passerby. I'm looking for a place. A place that can help me." Her eyes drifted to her feet as she suddenly realized it wouldn't be a good idea to tell the two men much more.

"Where?" The silver-haired man suddenly spoke up.

"What?"

"Where are you headed? You said you were looking for a place, and it sounds like you're in trouble, so maybe we can help. We can offer you protection until you get where you need to go." His tone of voice was very lazy and calm. Just like his eyes and demeanor. And

_What? A book? Did he randomly just pull out a book?  
_"I, uh..." she trailed off, lost in a sea of "what ifs."

"Or, you can refuse any help we offer. We understand why you wouldn't trust us. It's obvious you're no threat to our village, anyway. But I think you should consider what the difference is between your chance of survival if you go off on your own versus your chance of survival if you accept some help."

The old man suddenly moved from his spot at the end of Yukiko's bed towards the door. "I have business to take care of, Kakashi. I expect a report from your mission tomorrow morning and we need to talk about the exams. Until then, you are in charge of this young lady and her well-being."

"Wait!" Yukiko tried to interject.

"Yes, Lord Hokage." Kakashi mumbled as he bowed slightly, his eyes still on his book. The old man walked out, shutting the door behind him and ignoring Yukiko's protests.

After the old man left Yukiko and the man named Kakashi fell into a heavy silence. Yukiko stayed in bed twirling her hair through her fingers, too weak to do anything else, and Kakashi stood at the far side of the room reading his book. Neither of them had said a single word or made a single noise to break the silence. In fact, the only noises that could be heard were the soft ruffling sounds that Yukiko's hair made and the swift flipping of the pages in Kakashi's book.

Yukiko had decided as soon as the old man had left the room that she didn't like the man in the mask, so she would make no effort to talk to him. And if he wasn't interested in talking to her either then that was fine.

But then her stomach growled.

She jumped a little, surprised by the sudden intrusion of noise, and Kakashi quizzically raised an eyebrow, still with his eyes on his book. "What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Yukiko wrapped her arms tightly around her abdomen, hoping to muffle the sounds, and pouted angrily.

_Stop it, stomach! Not now!_

It growled again.

She clutched at her middle even tighter, desperately trying to ignore the twinge in her stomach, but a small whimper of hunger accidentally escaped her lips. Finally, Kakashi shut his book and looked up at her,

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

Yukiko quickly shook her head. "I'm fine. Don't worry yourself with me. I've decided that as soon as I'm well enough, I'll leave on my own because I don't like y-"

She stopped in the middle of her sentence and whimpered, the twinge in her stomach becoming more like a nagging ache.

"Stop being ridiculous," Kakashi said as he rested his book in his shuriken pouch and approached her bedside. Looking at the machines next to her bed, he lifted his hand to point at a set of numbers on the screen. "You see this?" The tone in his voice didn't make it sound like a question, so Yukiko just stayed silent and waited for him to continue. She also reestablished that she didn't like him. "These numbers show the glucose levels in your blood. You're at a very low 70, and average is in the 80s. If it drops any lower, there's a good chance you'll die."

Yukiko flinched at how he said the words. There was no emotion, no sympathy, no empathy. It was just straight fact and nothing more. "Or," he continued, "you might just go into a glucose insufficiency seizure. Of course, that can lead to death too..." He trailed off, seeming to be wandering around in his thoughts.

"Wait. So," Yukiko hesitated, not wanting to ask this man for help, but not wanting to die either. "How do i, um, not die?"

Just then, Yukiko saw a shift underneath his mask and his eye crinkled almost shut. _He's smiling? _All of the sudden, she found that, when he smiled, she actually sort of liked him. "So then you want my help!" he chuckled softly. "Come on. You need food."

He stuck his hand out to her and waited for her to take it. Unsteadily, she slid the blanket off her legs and took hold of his hand, trusting him to hold her weight for her until she could do it herself.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

The sky above the village was beautiful. It was a lot different from the sky above Yukiko's Village. In her village, she never saw the sun or the moon because of the mountains and trees surrounding her family's castle. Now, sitting in the training fields of Kakashi's village with her empty bento box in front of her, she couldn't help spreading herself out in the grass and admiring the sky. She could just lay there all day if she had the chance.

"What did you say your name was?" interrupted Kakashi. Yukiko closed her eyes, her sense of peace slowly disappearing. "I didn't say," she responded.

"Do you plan to?"

Yukiko sat back up and looked over at Kakashi. He was standing behind her with his back to her, staring intently at a large stone in the center of the training fields. She noticed that he was still holding the food he had ordered in his hand, unopened.

"Aren't you planning on eating?"

Kakashi turned his body slightly and gave her a confused look. "Did you forget that you ordered lunch too?" She pointed at his box of take-out. "Oh..." he mumbled. Then, he turned all the way around to face her and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, softly chuckling. Yukiko couldn't help herself. She laughed openly at his absentmindedness. "I guess you did."

As Yukiko's laughter died down to a giggle, she noticed that Kakashi was staring at her. She immediately became serious and brought her hands up to her face. "What is it? What's with the look? Is there something on my face?" Kakashi pulled his free hand out of his pocket and waved it dismissively. "Relax, your face is normal. It's just nice to see you relaxing and smiling. You shouldn't be so uptight. Especially when you seem to need all the help you can get."

Just then, Yukiko remembered that she wasn't supposed to like Kakashi. She couldn't afford to forge friendships. She stayed silent and dragged her gaze from Kakashi's face to his feet, scowling a little. "What's with _that _look?" Kakashi inquired, a bit defensively. Yukiko pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, sighing before answering, "Don't feel obligated to make me feel welcome. I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible and I really don't need help. So don't bother yours-"

"You should stop acting like you have everything put together. I can tell just by looking at you that you're terrified, even though you're doing a very good job at acting tough." interrupted Kakashi. Yukiko looked up at him with wide, surprised eyes. "There's nothing wrong with needing help. There's nothing wrong with being afraid and needing someone to depend on. Even in a world where someone like me isn't supposed to feel anything, a person can't help being human. So how is someone like you, who is obviously not any sort of shinobi, supposed to throw aside humanity and survive on their own?"

She couldn't hold his gaze. His eyes held so much sincerity in them and the fact that this much concern was coming from a complete stranger almost brought her to tears. "I just..." a feeling of safety and comfort was coming over her, compelling her to trust this man and want to stay in this village. But then she thought of Takeshi. She needed to find the village he had told her to find and wait for him. And above all that, she knew that her brother would have sent his men to look for her and make sure she was dead. By now, someone would be able to find her within a day. For all she knew, this man she was talking to could be one of her brother's assassins.

"I just don't know who I can trust."

As she said this, she looked up to search Kakashi's eye for any sign of deceit. All she saw was a quick flick of his eye to the right of her head, and suddenly he had a hold of her arm and a kunai in his free hand. For a moment, Yukiko's stomach felt like it was going to lurch right out of her skin and she thought she was going to be killed. But all that happened was that her body was flung up in the air and then landed at the base of the large stone in the middle of the training fields. Shakily, she tried to push herself up onto her knees and elbows. "What the he-"

"Stay down!"

Back where she and Kakashi had just been talking, Kakashi was surrounded by an array of ninja weapons. Kunai, shuriken, senbon, spears, and many other weapons were scattered all around him and, just then, a fresh new wave of them were coming at him from somewhere in the surrounding trees.

Yukiko let herself fall flat onto her stomach against the edge of the rock, completely shielded, and watched as Kakashi protected himself with nothing more than a kunai. She was amazed by how graceful he seemed to be moving even though he was fighting for his life. He was so fast it was almost impossible for her to see his movements sometimes. She was so enthralled by his movements that she didn't notice the slight noises coming from behind her. Even when a spear came too fast at Kakashi and passed straight through his shoulder, holding him in place, snapping her out of her trance-like state, she didn't realize that there was someone only five feet away from her.

Without thinking, she stood up and reached a hand out to him. "Kakashi-sama!" Before she could even take a step, though, there was a big arm wrapped around her chest and pulling her against a wide, firm chest. "Nice to see you, Princess," the man sneered into her ear. Her skin prickled and her throat contracted, holding back a gag. In her mind, a switch was flipped and she became the person her father had always trained her to be.

"Let go of me right now! How dare you touch your future queen in such a way! I'll have my father know about you, you treacherous-"

"Calm down, princess. Or should I say," he moved extra close to her ear for effect, "Yuki-chan?" Again, goosebumps traveled all across her body, shriveling her skin and causing her scalp to itch. "You don't get to call me that! Ow!" The man behind her started to bind her wrists to each other with a rough nylon rope, gruffly pulling at her arms and scraping her skin. "As far as anyone is concerned, you're dead. So you're no princess, just a pest that needs to be killed." Yukiko looked to where Kakashi was, but he was still struggling to get the spear out of his shoulder, and it seemed there was a second attacker who was heading straight for him.

_Well, if i learned anything while I was training to fight my brother, now would be the time to prove it._

Without warning, Yukiko tossed her head back and hit the man square in the nose with the back of her head, causing him to let go of her wrists and reach up to his bleeding face. She took advantage of his distraction to turn around to face him and land a high kick right on his chin. Hitting his chin was a little of a mishap, though. She had intended to kick his nose upward into his skull, an instant death blow, but missed, only temporarily disorienting him. Her short stature made it increasingly difficult to fight someone as big as this man. Almost immediately, the tall muscular man regained his composure and charged forward, his fist aimed at Yukiko's face. She side-stepped into a spin, picking up her leg and managing to kick him in the back, only narrowly missing his fist.

He landed in a heap on the ground, trying desperately to scramble onto his feet. This time, when he turned around to face her, his eyes were filled with a loathing rage and he reached behind his back for something. To Yukiko's horror, he pulled out a sword the length of his torso and pointed it straight at her. She stepped away, but her ankle gave out and, without her arms, all she could do was fall flat on her back and try to roll around onto her knees.

Even as she thrashed on the ground, she knew she was done for. There was nothing more she could do. So she stopped moving, closed her eyes, and waited for the pain to come.

_I hope its done quickly._

But the pain never came. She heard the sound of metal pierce flesh. She heard a shout of pain. She heard the gurgling sound of a person choking on their own blood, dying. But none of those sounds came from her.

Confused and in shock, Yukiko wriggled around a little more until she was on her knees facing where Kakshi used to be. In front of her, the man that was attacking Kakashi was tied to one of the wooden stumps in the training field unconscious, but Kakashi was nowhere in sight.

"Are you ok?"

His voice came from behind her, so she turned around. Kakashi was pulling his kunai out from the underside of the man's chin. It was the last thing she saw before she blacked out.

...

_Oh... My head hurts._

Yukiko brought her hand to her forehead, the action consuming more energy than it should have. Bringing her eyelids apart from each other seemed to require more energy than she had as well. She forced herself to open her eyes anyway, needing to know where she was. At first, she couldn't make out anything. Everything above her was a big blur of brown and white. She squinted her eyes shut again, pressing her palms to her eyelids and rubbing in a circular motion.

_Come on! Focus!_

This time when she opened her eyes she could see clearly. She was underneath a plain brown wood ceiling with a plain white ceiling fan, spinning in lazy circles. This environment didn't look the same as when she had been in the hospital, so she had no idea where she could be.

Just then she heard the soft click of a door knob turning and steady creaks from the weight of someone's footsteps.

"Are you awake already?"

She didn't know what she had been expecting, but as soon as she heard the familiar voice a sense of utter relief washed over her. She struggled to sit herself upright to look at the man's face, her arms shaking and her brow accumulating sweat with the strain.

"Kakashi-sama..."

He stared at her quizzically, waiting to she if she would say more, but when he saw that she was just too tired to say anymore he moved to help her out of bed. Silently, he pulled the blankets away from her legs and helped her hang them over the edge of the bed.

"Can you stand on your own?"

She gingerly placed her foot on the floor, pushed her upper body forward, and lifted herself from the bed a little, testing how her leg would react to her weight. It buckled at the knee, but Kakashi had one hand around her arm and the other on her stomach before she could lurch too far forward. Obscenities hissed out of her mouth, so quiet that Kakashi almost didn't catch them.

"Your face is red. Are you embarrassed?"

"Wha-" Yukiko touched her face, realizing how hot her skin was. She did feel embarrassed actually, but didn't think it would show. The fact that she was being such a burden, not even able to handle herself after one fight, infuriated her beyond belief. Her brother always mocked her lack of strength, just like the rest of the village shunned her for it despite her future claim to the throne. She just couldn't handle the thought that her brother was right.

"What's wrong with me?"

She was now standing with Kakashi's help, one arm over his shoulders with his arm around her waist. He raised an eyebrow curiously in question. Her face burned even hotter as she realized that she had spoken out loud. "You aren't used to such high amounts of stress, I'm sure, so they're taking a toll on your body. A few days of rest will get you feeling fine again." She pointedly shifted her eyes down to the floor and allowed Kakashi to take her out of the room into a wide hall.

"Kakashi-sama, where are we?"

"Oh!" He seemed to have suddenly remembered something important. "This is my home! Please feel welcome. That door over there," he pointed at a door at the end of the hall, across the door that they had just exited from, "is the restroom. We were just in my bedroom, and downstairs is a living area and a kitchen. It's small but it's pretty cozy."

Yukiko's eyes wandered around the walls and floors of his home. It was nearly barren, with no decorations on the walls and the floors only bare wood. Even the dressers that stood against the walls held plain lamps on them, nothing more. When they walked downstairs, she noticed that his living room was just as undecorative as everything else. It was a startling difference from the palace she lived in back at her home. Her father liked to live in extravagant luxury with crystal chandeliers in every main room and gold-lined rugs in every room. She found that she liked Kakashi's home a lot better.

"Your things are here in the living room. If you need them, we can take them along with us."

"Take them along?" She looked at him confused. "Where are we going?"

"The Hokage wants to meet with you again. This time he wants to know more about you, like why you're here and why those men invaded our village just to kill you."

Kakashi guided her to the couch where she sat and reached forward to the coffee table for her bag. "I can't, Kakashi-sama. I need to leave. I'm sorry for causing your village trouble, but I need to find a certain village. I'll be safe there and so will your village once I'm gone." She was shuffling through the items in her bag looking for something as Kakashi waited for her to be ready to leave.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and cocked his head at her. "You seem so intent on leaving. If you've been promised to be kept safe here, why do you need to go anywhere else? What exactly is your story?" She pulled a white envelope out of her bag with a wide grin on her face and a happy "Aha!"

"What is that?" Kakashi approached her and curiously eyed the envelope that she was tearing open with the nail of her pinky. "This can explain to me, us, why I need to leave and find the Hidden Leaf Village! I had almost forgot about it!"

"Hidden Leaf Village?" Kakashi straightened and chuckled, looking as though he was trying hard not to outright laugh in her face. "What is it? Why are you laughing?" Yukiko felt that she had missed out on an important piece of information.

"You should really tell me your name," Kakashi stated. "Especially since you're going to stay in this village for a while."

Yukiko didn't understand what he was trying to say. She had just finished telling him that she wasn't going to stay. "Maybe we should start all over," he continued. "Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village. My name is Kakashi Hatake. What's yours?"

...

_Again, I really hope everyone reading this is liking it so far. I'm sorry if it's progressing a bit slow, really. I hate slow stories, so if you feel I should go a bit faster just say so and I will :) Or if you have any other suggestions I'll also take them! This is my very first so I really want feed back so I can know how to make this better for my readers. Please stay tuned for the next chapter!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello readers! First of all, I just want to say that my cable and internet company has the worst customer service in the world! No internet for over a month? Ridiculous! Anyway, I kept writing even when my internet wasn't working so I'm just going to upload 1 chapter per day for 4 days. I hope you enjoy them all! Right now, here's chapter 4 :)  
_

**Chapter 4**

"The whole time! I was here the whole time!" Yukiko smacked her forehead with her open palm, a deep pink blush spread all over her face. "Gosh I feel stupid." Kakashi walked next to her with one hand in his pocket and his other hand occupied with his orange book. "Come on now. Don't feel too bad. How could you have known?"

When Kakashi had revealed to Yukiko that they were already in the Hidden Leaf Village, Yukiko couldn't have run for the door any faster exclaiming, "Your leader! The village leader! Take me to him!" Now, the two of them walked calmly through the bustling village heading to the large home at the base of the mountain with the faces.

"It really would've helped if you told me where I was right from the beginning," she smarted. "Give us a chance to explain things next time before you start yelling and refusing help," Kakashi replied just as smoothly. Yukiko felt her cheeks burn hotter and she looked down at the ground. She really hadn't meant to be so rude when she first met the two men. She felt afraid and threatened and didn't know how else to react to the situation. It was a really good thing that these people happened to be good people.

"So what exactly are you planning to say to the Hokage?" Kakashi ripped his eyes from his book just for a second to address Yukiko, then turned them right back onto the words on the pages. Yukiko figured that she should just get used to the fact that this man would never give her his full attention as long as those books were around, so she ignored the slight offense she felt at his partial attention and answered his question. "Well," she started, "first of all, I'm going to introduce myself properly and apologize for how rude I was in the hospital." Kakashi nodded his approval. Yukiko smiled and continued. "Then, I'll explain my situation to him and hand him the letter my best friend gave me. Hopefully, after that he'll help me somehow. I don't know how, really, but Takeshi said he would." She ended her sentence with a bright tone and a wide smile. Kakashi quizzically raised an eyebrow and cocked his head at an angle. "So what exactly is your situation and what's the story with this best friend of yours?" Yukiko hesitated, her smile fading to a pensive frown.

"I'd like to keep my situation to myself until I can talk to the Hokage, if that's okay with you." She added the last part frantically, having realized that she might have offended him. "Of course," he answered, giving her another sideways glance to smile at her. Yukiko smiled back, relieved. "And my best friend, his name is Takeshi Yukimura. He's the one who told me to come here. I don't know how he knew about your village or why he would think that it would help me. I mean, he is a member of the special operations squad in my village-"

"Like the black ops?" Kakashi clarified.

"Yes, black ops. So I know, in retrospect, the he knows about a lot of places that I've never heard of. It doesn't help that I don't get out of the palace much... But I trust Takeshi completely! He's been in charge of my protection since my birth even though he was only 3 when I was born. So if he thought that this village was a village he could trust, then I'll trust it too. As completely as I trust Takeshi."

Kakashi stayed silent for a while, just walking with his eyes on the book. Yukiko fidgeted with the ends of her hair that were draped over her shoulder, waiting for him to break the awkward silence. "It sounds to me," he finally said, "like you think more of Takeshi than just a best friend." Now it was Yukiko's turn to tilt her head in confusion. "What do you-" Just then the realization of his insinuation hit her and she gasped. "Oh! No! No way! Takeshi is just my friend. My best friend in the whole world, but I want nothing more from him. I wouldn't... I mean, he would... It's just.." Yukiko stopped her slight fidgeting and instead began to rapidly twirl and pull long strands of her hair.

Kakashi dog-eared the page in his book and closed it to put it away in his shuriken pouch. He turned to face Yukiko with a jovial expression. "I'm sorry. I was only joking." His hand reached up to rub the back of his neck. "I didn't think I'd draw this reaction out of you. I don't know enough to make those kinds of conclusions and I guess I just make a bad joke teller." Yukiko's face went through an emotional transition from panic, to disbelief, to embarrassment, to slight frustration, and then back to embarrassment. She sighed, rubbing her fingers in a circular motion over her temples, trying to ease the pain from the blood rushing to her head, making her cheeks a bright pink. "We're here, Yukiko-san."

* * *

Kakashi and Yukiko were sitting on soft, velvet cushions in front of a table in the main room of the Hokage's home. He was having a meeting with another Jonin so they'd have to wait a while for their own meeting. Kakashi had one elbow on his knee, resting his head in his upturned palm while the other hand held his book open in front of his face. Yukiko was next to him, tracing imaginary designs on her thighs, staring straight into the cup of tea in front of her, completely lost in thought. Ever since her conversation with Kakashi about Takeshi, she couldn't stop puzzling over him.

What was her relationship with him now? She still considered him nothing more than a best friend, but he had kissed her the last time they saw each other. Her face burned as she remembered the kiss. It had been so sudden that she had no time to process what was happening. She had simply let him take her face into his hands and stood in shock when his mouth pressed on hers. Even when his lips had started moving, and his tongue traced a warm line across the outside of her lower lip, she hadn't even closed her eyes. Yes, she had enjoyed the warm feeling of their bodies pressed together, and the feeling of safety and comfort that Takeshi always gave her, but she wasn't sure she felt anything towards him romantically. She had been scared that night. Scared and overwhelmed by all the emotions bombarding her, and she didn't want to be alone. Takeshi was the only protection she had ever known, especially since she wasn't particularly strong. So that was the reason that she let Takeshi hold her that way. And that was why she didn't want to leave him.

_Is it possible that I might feel something else for him? Or am I just giving this too much thought all because of that one night? Nothing has changed. He's still my best friend. But what about the... Ah! My face is turning red again! I can feel it!_

"Hey?"

Kakashi's voice snapped Yukiko out of deep thought, causing her to jump and rattle the table. Her teacup swayed side to side and Yukiko's arms abruptly shot out to steady it. "Are you okay? You look flushed."

"Oh! I'm fine!" she assured him, laughing awkwardly, and a little too high-pitched for her liking. The look on Kakashi's face was utterly skeptical, even through his mask. "Well, OK. If you say so."

"Kakashi!" The two at the table turned to see the old man, Lord Hokage walk into the room with a friendly smile on his face. Kakashi rose to his feet and Yukiko followed suit, both of them bowing at the same time. "Relax. Take your seats," the Hokage offered. Yukiko waited for Kakashi to sit, not familiar with the customs that people of the Hidden Leaf Village held in the presence of higher class citizens. In her village, whenever her family had a village wide gathering, nobody was allowed to sit at all unless all members of her family were seated.

The Hokage took his seat at the opposite side of the table. "It's good to see you back so soon!" he started. "Does this mean that everything with the young lady has been worked out already?" His head gave a slight bow in Yukiko's direction when he mentioned her. She fidgeted a little. "Well, not exactly, Lord Hokage. She actually has something she needs to talk to you about." I looked up from my hands and met the eyes of the Hokage. "Is that so?" he asked, his voice obviously one of great power and authority. I nodded meekly.

_Remember your manners, Yukiko!_

"Yes, My Lord. If you would allow it, I would like to tell you my reason for being here."

Speaking so formally reminded Yukiko of her life in the palace and she automatically switched to her home persona. Her back straightened, her shoulders pulled back, her chin raised itself slightly, and she didn't break eye contact. Even her voice took on a much more mature tone. "Very well then," responded the Hokage. "Let's hear it." Kakashi pulled his book out again, expecting a long story. "Well, my Lord, my name is Yukiko Munenori and I am from the Hidden Village of Gaea, between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth." Yukiko bowed, took a deep breath and collected her thoughts, keeping her manners in check, and proceeded to tell the Hokage every detail she could spare of her story.

* * *

In the end, Yukiko told the Hokage of how she was meant to inherit the throne on her 21st birthday since she was the only legitimate child of the king, how her brother wanted to kill her before then, how she escaped, what Takeshi said, and about the letter. She left out the part about her being betrothed to Takeshi and the part where he kissed her. She didn't think those details were important to her story. She also had to mention how her brother had his men looking for her, trying to make sure she was dead. The Hokage folded his hands together and held them in front of his mouth, his expression pensive and serious. "And what exactly is it you want from this village?" he asked.

Yukiko kept eye contact with him. "Shelter, Lord Hokage. That's what I was sent here for by the member of my village's Anbu. And I would like for you to read the letter. I have not read it, but I was told that it holds important information for you, Lord. I opened the envelope, but the letter itself is sealed with a jutsu that I can not break, so I was clearly not meant to see its contents." She pulled the letter out of her shuriken pouch and placed it on the table in front of the Hokage. He opened the envelope and pulled out the paper inside, It was wrapped with a small red ribbon that had an inscription all around it. "Hmm... I don't recognize this code, so I'll have to give it to my special decoding squad before I can open it. Until then..." the Hokage looked up from the sealed letter in his hands and into the eyes of Yukiko then Kakashi. "Kakashi, this young lady will stay with you until we can figure out what else to do. You are to make her comfortable in the leaf village, care for her, and protect her for now." Kakashi nodded wordlessly.

"Wait a second!" Yukiko spat, her hand reaching out to the center of the table. Immediately she snapped it back and recollected herself, reminding herself of the manners she needed to use in this setting. "Excuse me, Lord, but I don't wish to be a burden on Kakashi-sama or on any of your shinobi and villagers. Maybe I could just be given a room in an inn that serves breakfast and-"

"Not a chance." The Hokage's interruption was hard, his face showing that this topic was not up for debate. "If what you've told us in your story is true, then you need protection. You will not be left alone while you are visiting the leaf. And Kakashi is easily one of my best men, so my mind can be at ease knowing that he will be overseeing your well-being." Yukiko lowered her head into a bow. "Yes, Lord Hokage." He nodded while raising his hand and snapping his fingers. At the sound of the snap, a shinobi wearing all black except for a gray vest and a white, decorated mask on his face appeared on his knees beside the Hokage. "Take this to be decoded and have them know it is a priority," ordered Lord Hokage. The shinobi nodded dutifully and took the letter, leaving without a sound. "Now then," the Hokage looked back at Yukiko and Kakashi with a smile. "Until I get this decoded and decide what to do, I want you two to get some rest. Show her around tomorrow, Kakashi. Get her whatever she needs, make her feel welcome, and above all protect her."

* * *

The sky had darkened by the time Kakashi and Yukiko headed back for Kakashi's house. The crickets chirped and the soft glow of the night lamps of restaurants attracted the monotonous buzz of moths. People were in the shops, talking and laughing and some even singing, enjoying time with their friends and family. It was all a beautiful new experience to Yukiko, and she loved it all. When she looked up at the night sky, she could see hundreds and thousands of stars. She could even make out some shapes in the stars if she looked hard enough. "This is all so amazing!" she breathed.

"You've never seen a busy village square?"

Yukiko's face fell at Kakashi's question, "I never left the palace grounds back home. I wasn't allowed to walk through the village and interact with the villagers. I've never even seen a sky like this before. The lights in the castle are too bright to allow for stargazing." Kakashi looked at her as if she were an oddity. "Well, you can do whatever you'd like while the letter gets deciphered. We can go sight seeing tomorrow all day if that's what you want." Yukiko's face lit up at the thought, her eyes sparkling and her lips parting into a smile. "Oh, that would be great!"

Kakashi gave her a small smile, then went to his shuriken pouch for his book. "I'd like to ask you a question Yukiko-san." He unfolded the corner of the page and stuck his hand back in his pocket. "What is it, Kakashi-sama?" He stayed silent for a few seconds more, flipped the page in his book, and then proceeded. That book was really getting on her nerves.

"Why do you act differently in different situations? It's like you have two personalities."

Yukiko's eyes widened a little. "You... You noticed that?" Kakashi nodded casually. "I need to have two personalities in order to get by. You see, no one has ever really liked my real personality except for Takeshi. He's the only person who can accept me for who I really am. My family thinks I need to act more like them. So when I'm around my father or brother or mother I need to wear a sophisticated, mature, serious, and basically, arrogant personality. I've been having to switch between the two all my life, and since I spend more time with my family than with Takeshi, my farce personality comes more natural to me than my real personality."

"I see." They were walking up the cobble stone steps to Kakashi's door now and Kakashi had put his book away in order to look for his key. "What about right now? Have you been wearing your fake personality since we met?" She gasped inwardly at the sudden realization that she hadn't. She was being herself around this stranger and was completely comfortable with it. "Uh... No. I.. I've been my true self for as long as I've been I your company." Kakashi nodded pensively. "So then that person that you were back at the Hokage's house? That was your fake personality?" They were inside his house now. She nodded, taking off her shoes, and walked to his couch as he locked the door again from the inside. "Well, I have to say that's a pretty boring personality. I prefer the one you have on right now." Yukiko couldn't stop the smile that crept onto her lips. "I think you should be your real self for as long as you're in the Leaf Village. It'll be a good time to get a fresh start."

Kakashi put his shoes next to Yukiko's and walked over to a door behind the stairs. He opened it and rummaged around for a while. "Yeah..." Yukiko mumbled. "Yeah!" Louder now. "I think I will do that Kakashi-sama. I'm finally going to be able to be the real me." Kakashi turned and shut the door to the closet with his foot, a blanket and pillow in his arms. "That's great!" His eye did that crinkling thing again as he smiled at her. Yukiko decided she really liked his smile. "Now, there's clothes in the foot bunker by the end of my bed. You can shower and borrow some. And then go ahead and sleep up there. I'll take the couch." Yukiko stood and made her way past Kakashi to the bottom of the stairs. She looked back to see Kakashi wriggling on the couch, trying to find a comfortable position. "Thank you, Kakashi-sama!" He gave her a wave of his hand and went back to wriggling.

That night, in a stranger's bed, wearing borrowed clothes, Yukiko had the most comfortable sleep of her life.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_What is that smell? Its fantastic. I should wake up._

Yukiko poked her head out from under the blankets, testing out the brightness of the room. The lights were still off, so her eyes had no problem adjusting. The clock beside her read 6:13.

_Is Kakashi-sama awake already? What an insane hour to be awake. I'll still go check what this amazing smell is._

With a groan Yukiko sat up in bed, massaging her eyes with the palms of her hands. She pulled the blankets off of her legs and stepped onto the cold wooden floor, extending her arms high above her head and bending her upper body side to side. Kakashi's shorts swayed with her, tickling the back of her knees and his tank top billowed around her stomach, making her scratch at the spots they had tickled. Her tiny 5 foot frame in the clothes of a 5 foot 9 inch man made her look like a child, her small stature emphasized and her curves hidden under the over large clothing.

_Restroom. Restroom first, delicious smell later._

Yukiko entered the restroom and went to collect her toothbrush and toothpaste from her backpack under the sink. As she began to brush her teeth she looked at herself, really studying her features. She couldn't help being reminded of Takeshi. Her brother had the bright red hair of the woman who her father had an affair with and the deep violet eyes of her father. Her mother had the trademark jet black hair of her family line and the deep violet eyes. As far as she knew, Takeshi and her were the only two people in her entire clan to have grey eyes and pale blonde hair. Well, her grandmother had them too, but she'd been dead for 12 years. She had once heard her parents arguing about her eyes and hair.

* * *

"_She should be stronger, Izumi!" Katsuro had slammed both his fists down on his thick wooden desk, making Izumi jump and all of his possessions resting on the surface rattle, some toppling to the floor._

"_For love's sake, Katsuro! She's only a child! Six years old! What do you expect her to be?" Izumi's voice shook. Not with anger the way Katsuro's voice did. Her's shook because, just like everyone else in the village, she feared Katsuro. Only a crazy person with a death wish would try to argue with Katsuro, especially when he was angered. But Izumi was his wife, so she had a bit more leverage than anyone else._

"_Why can't she be as gifted as the boy?" His voice had turned down to a whisper now. Still, the anger in his voice was strong and evident. From her hiding place in the hallway, behind the tablecloth of a short table, Yukiko listened intently, nervously twisting and pulling at her hair. She had been awaken from a deep sleep 20 minutes earlier by the sound of her father having thrown multiple glass items at the wall, all while bellowing out his anger. _

"_The talent that the bastard child has will go to waste, Izumi! The girl is the one with the potential for real power and she's useless in a battle!" Her mother was silent. There was the sound of a defeated sigh as someone settled into one of the plush velvet chairs in her father's study. "And I won't just let that other bastard take my place as king just because his son has the same gift as our daughter. He can't push our daughter out of the way. We'll lose everything." The young girl felt the tears swell behind her eyes and her vision started to blur. She pulled harder at her hair, twisting with more urgency, desperately trying to hold the tears in. She knew that if her father discovered her and saw her crying she would only make him angrier. And disappoint him even more. She hated being so weak._

_Just then she felt a hand on her shoulder, but before she could scream, another hand clamped itself firmly over her mouth. A pair of large grey eyes shimmered at her through the darkness and the tension in her body immediately dissipated._

_The boy moved his hand away from her mouth and used his palm to wipe away the tears that she hadn't realized she'd shed. After he was done he kissed her forehead and smiled at her. "I told him I was sorry, Takeshi. I really didn't mean-" He put a finger to her lips, making her understand that they shouldn't talk out in the hallway. Then, wordlessly, he took her hand and they walked down the hall together to her bedroom where they silently climbed into her bed and slept, facing each other throughout the night. And all night he never let go of her hand. He knew that she needed more support than anyone else in his life and he wanted to be the one to give it to her. She was his best friend after all._

* * *

Yukiko rinsed her mouth and spit into the sink, stopping as soon as her eyes were visible in the mirror again. She reached forward to touch the eyes through the mirror. All her life, she hadn't understood why she was treated differently for her eyes and hair. She had actually come to hate those features of herself. But Takeshi helped her be proud of her striking difference. That's why they'd become such good friends.

She really wondered if he was okay.

* * *

When Yukiko finally made her way downstairs, she was still wearing Kakashi's clothes. She stepped right into the kitchen and walked to the stove where the food in the pans was still steaming. Kakashi sat at the island bar table in his kitchen with an empty bowl in front of him, his book in his hands. "Good morning, Kakashi-sama! What is all this? It smells absolutely amazing!" Without look up from his book, Kakashi nodded his head in response to her good morning and answered her question. "Rice, miso soup, and broiled saury. I didn't know what things you like so I cooked my own favorite foods. Help yourself if you'd like." _Stupid book._

After having filled her bowl to the rim with miso soup and filling a plate with saury way past its capacity, Yukiko sat across the bar from Kakashi. He briefly looked up to acknowledge her presence, but his gaze lingered a little longer than he had intended. "Your hair is long." Yukiko stopped her spoon midway to her mouth and looked oddly at Kakashi. "Your hair is spiky, Kakashi-san." He sweat dropped and sighed. "You're wearing it different from yesterday. As a shinobi, doesn't it get in the way of your battles?" Yukiko finished chewing the piece of fish in her mouth before answering him, her voice very soft, almost embarrassed. "I'm not a shinobi."

Kakashi raised his brow at this, the confession an obvious shock. "I'm not very strong, so my father never wasted too much of his time training me. Because of that, I never became a real ninja like my brother . He's really strong. Probably the strongest person in our village." Kakashi let the conversation lapse into silence and Yukiko continued to eat. While she ate, Kakashi looked into his book, but he was no longer reading. He wondered how it was possible for her to manage a man like those from yesterday as much as she did without being any sort of shinobi.

"So what are we going to do today?" Kakashi looked over at her food and was shocked to see that she was almost completely done with all the food she had served. "Well, I thought i'd just give you a thorough tour of the Leaf. And at meal times I could show you my favorite places to eat. There's a really good barbecue place around here. My plan for the evening was taking you to the hot springs so you could relax. After going through the things you told us you went throuh, I'm sure you could use a hot spring."

Yukiko's lips parted into a wide smile. "Oh, how fun! Let's go right away!" She started to shovel the rest of her food into her mouth and finally lifted the bowl of miso to drink what was left. Kakashi watched her with a small smile, amused by her actions and mannerisms. He stood and put his book in his shuriken pouch, but as his hand was going in, the area between his forefinger and thumb was snagged on the edge of a shuriken. He quickly withdrew his hand, but that only served to deepen the gash. His hand was dripping puddles of blood onto the floor as soon as he pulled it out. He stared at it for a while, unsure what to do. Yukiko gasped, but he didn't think anything of it. It wasn't until she had wordlessly stood up and cupped his hand in both of hers, sending a steady flow of chakra into his wound that he was taken aback. With her hands still emanating chakra, she guided him to the sink where she rinsed off the blood. Once the blood was all gone she removed her hands from his, and they both saw that his wound was gone.

"There," she said, her voice dripping in comfort and compassion. "Is that better?" She looked up into Kakashi's eye with a smile and he just nodded. "Good!" Her voice was back to normal now. "Let's go now, Kakashi-sama! And be a little more careful." She walked towards the front door with a soft chuckle and Kakashi just stood there wondering, "How is she not a ninja?"

* * *

_I'm sorry this chapter is so short! I'm trying to keep all my chapters at no less than 2,500 words, but it's so hard sometimes! Well, anyways, I hope you enjoyed it :) please review!_


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